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Eight Orders for My Students

To my students, wise, diligent and faithful:If you want to get rid of illness once and for allSince illness’ real cause is clinging to “me” and “my”Meditate on true reality, where there is no “I”.

So much troubles your body, you want it to healBut the source of that trouble is thinking that the body’s realThis body appears only when causes and conditions allow it toKnow that it appears but is empty, like a watermoon.

If you want to give up the suffering that gets its startIn the people you know who warm your heartThe cause of such pain is easy to know:Taking them to be real, holding on and not letting goBut dreams and watermoons are all they are made ofSo give up your attachment to the ones you love.

Then there’s the suffering that comes from those you hateHere’s how to get rid of it before it’s too lateIf you don’t stop thinking that enemies are trueThe suffering coming from them will continueSo no matter how real they may seemRemember again and again that it’s just a dream.

Working very hard so that your wealth will accrueThen you guard it so well—how much anxiety this all brings you!To get rid of it, remember this a lot:Wealth is dreamlike, whether you have or have notWhen you know material things to be just a dreamYou’ll be enriched by contentment, of all wealth supreme.

The four elements: earth, water, fire and airThey harm your body and cause your mind fearBut just like dream appearances that cause confusionThese four are empty appearances—illusions!Know it to be like this with everything you seeAnd meditate in the illusion-like samadhi.

All your concepts about the body:Thoughts of “clean” or “dirty”, “beautiful” or “ugly”They are a constant source of difficultySo meditate in the samadhi of their equality.

When you think “I exist” or “I don’t exist”That’s how you fall into realism, or become a nihilistTo know your true nature, think of a clear sky at nightAnd on a beautiful lake, the moon that shines so bright!Appearance and emptiness, no one can separateThis is how you have to meditate!

The one called Sherab Lodrö when he was smallWith his mind filled with love, sends this to you allAs a closing prayer, this is what I sing:May none of us ever leave the excellent path to awakening!